Lazard exits D&B Australia, seeing 3x profit on initial investment
The Australian private equity arm of financial advisory firm Lazard Ltd. has fully exited credit-reporting and debt-collecting business Dun & Bradstreet Australia, selling the business to a subsidiary of the D&B Corp. for A$233 million ($209 million) – a transaction that reportedly earns Lazard a A$100 million ($91 million) profit.
Its sale follows Lazard's decision not to take the company public, a trend as other PE firms this year have also skirted the public markets in favor of alternative exit means. Disappointing debuts from the likes of Myer and Kathmandu are cited as deterrents for firms like CHAMP Private Equity, which decided to sell its Study Group to Providence for $570 million instead of listing the company. Lazard Carnegie Wylie Australia MD John Wylie told local press that the firm saw more than 3x profit from its original 2007 investment
Lazard Carnegie Wylie Private Equity has largely experienced an active year. In March, it launched an A$100 million fund to buy Australian distressed hospitality assets, and recent reports have cited its MD Lindsay Phillips as saying that the firm is preparing to exit two of its businesses and will launch a new services-sector fund.
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